Chamber takes West Midlands business views to the heart of Government

The region’s three chambers of commerce have presented the findings of key economic report in Parliament.

Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce with the Black Country and Coventry and Warwickshire chambers held a Parliamentary launch of the final Business Commission West Midlands report.

West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker, Lord Philip Hunt of Kings Heath and several of the region’s MPs joined members of the business community in the Churchill Room to hear the findings of the report, which sets out a roadmap for unlocking business growth.

The GBCC’s director of external affairs Raj Kandola presented key headlines from the report, which includes recommendations around AI and digitisation, innovation, net zero, the built environment and people, process and skills.

Fresh from his meeting with new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and fellow regional mayors, Mr Parker took part in a questions-and-answers session in which skills and devolution were high on the agenda, as well as his desire to make the West Midlands “the best place in the UK to do business”.

Henrietta Brealey, chief executive of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, said: “We were delighted to take the voice of West Midlands businesses right to the heart of government. From the conversations with our region’s mayor, newly elected and re-elected MPs, stakeholders and our business community in the room, there is real appetite and energy for working in genuine partnership to drive positive change on business growth.

“The Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce is proud to champion our members interests. While the Parliamentary launch of the final report of the Business Commission West Midlands: A Roadmap for Business Growth was a key moment in the programme, there’s plenty more to come.

“We will continue to champion the recommendations over the coming months with all political parties and look forward to reconvening to review the impact one year on from its initial launch.

“Thank you to all of our members and partners who have contributed to the commission. It’s a privilege working with you.”

Business Commission West Midlands was convened last year by the region’s three chambers. It involved a panel of 11 private-sector commissioners from a range of industries, supported by an advisory panel of seven academic experts.

More than 432 businesses contributed evidence to the commission, alongside eight public sector and 10 membership organisations or cluster groups.